3D food printing technology has revolutionized the functional food sector by precisely controlling texture and nutrients. It enables personalized nutrition for specific populations (e.g., patients with swallowing disorders, diabetics, children) and enhances bioavailability of functional ingredients like probiotics.

Pumpkin seed proteins are underutilized plant proteins with a balanced content of essential amino acids and health benefits. Benefit from the functional properties and low-cost character, pumpkin seed proteins exhibit great potential for applications as alternative food ingredients. This paper reviews the composition of pumpkin seed proteins, as well as the extraction methods, including the alkaline method, ultrasonic-assisted method, and enzymatic-assisted approach. Functional properties of pumpkin seed proteins, such as solubility, foamability, gelling, and emulsification, are described. Additionally, several modification methods were emphasized to enhance the functionality of pumpkin seed proteins, including physical, chemical, enzymatic, and combined approaches. Food applications of pumpkin seed proteins, including food packaging films, meat analogs, carriers, protein supplements, and functional food additives, are also systematically introduced. Finally, the challenges and solutions that limit the widespread utilization of pumpkin seed proteins are discussed.

Precision fermentation is emerging as an innovative platform for manufacturing high-value food proteins, relocating food production from agricultural fields to controlled bioreactors.

This perspective will address modifications to the secretory pathway that can improve protein secretion efficiency. Deliberate, data-driven engineering of secretion efficiency will determine whether precision-fermented proteins advance from pilot production to routine industrial manufacture. This perspective will also address the issues of cost efficiency and scalability, exploring how protein secretion can overcome these challenges to make lab-grown food a sustainable, ethical, and viable alternative to conventional food sources.

Gelatin-based scaffolds with excellent physical and biological properties provide sufficient mechanical support and create biomimetic environments, closely mimicking natural tissues. This makes them suitable for designing high-quality cultured meat. By addressing future challenges and promoting advanced technologies, the full potential of gelatin-based biomaterials can be realized and propelled to the forefront of innovative applications in cellular agriculture.

Hydrogen-oxidising bacteria (HOBs) convert CO2, hydrogen (H2), and potentially nitrogen (N2) into biomass via gas fermentation, promising to decouple food production from agriculture.
Industrial-scale gas fermentation has been shown to be feasible across a variety of microbial species and gases.
The development of engineered microbial strains for the precision fermentation of novel foods gains momentum due to maturing synthetic biology tools, pressing environmental concerns, and a consequential shift in consumer preferences.
Combining industrial-scale gas fermentation capabilities with state-of-the-art precision fermentation technologies enables the development of gas precision fermentation processes.
Product development and commercialisation would greatly benefit from focused generation of HOB tools and improved gas fermentation capacities in academia and industry.

Highlights
• Alginate oligosaccharides offer multifunctional roles in the food industry.
• They enhance gut health through prebiotic and microbiota-modulating effects.
• Bioactivities include antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory actions.
• Applications span functional foods, nutraceuticals, and food preservation.
• Potential use in edible coatings and packaging supports food sustainability.

Umami is crucial for enhancing food palatability, modulating appetite, and preventing obesity. Edible fungi, as nutrient-rich and sustainable food sources, are particularly abundant in umami (enhanced) substances, including monosodium glutamate (MSG), umami amino acids, 5′-nucleotides, peptides, and their derivatives. This review systematically summarizes their molecular structures, sensory properties, and structure–function relationships, emphasizing how processing, storage, and intrinsic factors affect their stability, activity, and synergy.

Highlights
• Phytochemicals face low solubility and stability in functional food systems.
• Nanotechnology enhances phytochemical stability and bioavailability in food.
• Nanoemulsions improve solubility, rapid uptake, and shelf life of compounds.
• Electrospun nanofibers offer high loading and sustained nutrient release.

Pigmented cereals such as black rice, purple wheat, blue and black maize, red corn, and red sorghum have emerged as promising contributors to nutrition-sensitive food systems because their bran tissues are rich in anthocyanins, flavonoids, phenolic acids, and carotenoids that support cardiovascular, metabolic, and cognitive health. 

This review article explores the roles of bacteria, yeasts, and molds in food applications. By bridging traditional fermentation knowledge with emerging biotechnological tools such as precision fermentation and strain engineering, this work provides a framework for designing natural, sustainable, and reproducible flavor systems for next-generation food innovation.

The pursuit of sustainable and health-promoting food resources is a pressing global challenge under the pressures of population growth and resource scarcity. This review aims to provide a sustainable-development perspective on natural microalgae resources by bridging their systemic health benefits with their emerging applications in the modern food industry.

Electric field-based technologies are important tools in food ingredient engineering, enabling targeted modification of fiber hydration and water-holding capacity, starch gelatinization and retrogradation behavior, and protein solubility and emulsifying properties. PEF and HVED excel in non-thermal, structural disruption, OH and MEF promote uniform heating and conformational rearrangements, and all provide opportunities for designing novel ingredients with improved technological and nutritional attributes. As research advances, optimizing processing parameters and scaling up industrial applications will be crucial to fully harness their potential for the development of novel, sustainable food ingredients aligned with market and sustainability trends.